To Build a Home
by soccergirl1997
Summary: "Family's not just a word. It's who you are, where you came from and where you will always belong." When Mrs. Cullen notices something a bit off about twins in her class she begins to investigate and what she finds is horrific. Can she and Carlisle save the two children before it's too late? Can they give the twins a home and a family they deserve? Warning: Child Abuse All Human AU
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my first attempt at a fanfiction, well, not exactly first but first that I want to post and get out there. All feedback, positive and negative, is wanted and helpful so let me know what you think. **

Chapter 1:

Esme POV

""Thump"..."Thump"..."Thump"...a pause? The man moves quietly, slowly, towards the door with a nervous gait. "Thump"...a step back..."Thump"...yes, it's getting closer. "Thump"...he stares at the door, trying to somehow see through it..."Thump"...he reaches slowly for the doorknob, hand shaking, no longer able to take not knowing..."Creak", a loose floorboard, near the door outside..."Thump", he slowly opens the door..." Eleazar finished telling the now terrified children the scary story by screaming which made tiny little Alice all but fall off the log she was sitting on backward and Irina's tiny eyes fill with tears.

"Eleazar!" Carmen gasped as she quickly took Irina in her arms as Bella did the same with Alice.

"Honestly Esme, how did you grow up sane with him around as your older brother?" Bella asked as she consoled Alice.

I giggled. "Whoever said I was sane?"

Carlisle leaned over and pecked my cheek. "It wasn't that scary of a story." Eleazar frowned.

"Speak for yourself." Alice squeaked from Bella's arms causing my brother-in-law, Edward to chuckle. "Daddy it's not funny!" Alice exclaimed.

Carlisle gave his brother an amused look as he held his arms out for our tiny niece who gladly left her mother to sit with him.

"Was Uncle Eleazar a mean uncle?" Carlisle joked.

"Yes! He scared me Uncle Carlisle!" My six year old niece complained.

"Yeah Aunt Esme, you should beat my daddy up!" Six year old Irina said as she climbed into my lap.

"What about you guys? Did I scare you all?" Eleazar asked the remaining nieces and nephews of mine.

"Nope sorry dad!" Ten year old Kate laughed.

"That story's for babies." Eight year old Emmett rolled his eyes.

"Yeah dad, it'll take more than that to scare us." Eight year old Tanya giggled.

"What about you pumpkin?" Eleazar asked his six year old son, Garrett.

"I wasn't scared daddy!" He told him.

"Yes you were Squirt; you were clutching my hand the whole time." Kate disagreed.

"Was not!" Garrett yelled at his older sister.

"Okay, and on that note, let's all go to bed." Eleazar said as he stood up and picked up his youngest before his oldest could cause her brother to get too angry.

I always enjoyed our family camping trips but sometimes, like right now, as I held little Irina in my arms, I felt sad. I could never have children; I could never give Carlisle, the love of my life, children. I could never complete our family.

"Aunt Esme, can I sleep with you and Uncle Carlisle tonight?" Irina asked.

"Yeah, me too!" Alice exclaimed. "Pretty please we'll be really quiet and go to bed and everything!"

Carlisle chuckled and nodded to me. "I don't see why not." I smiled.

"We should get you two in bed though, it's late." Carlisle told them.

"Okay." They agreed.

Carlisle kept Alice in his arms but picked up Irina in his arm not holding Alice. We bid the family goodnight and made our way to our tent. We had a king size air mattress so it wasn't like it would be uncomfortable to add two six year olds to our tent. Once they were both changed into two of Carlisle's t-shirts, they crawled into the middle of the air mattress with Carlisle on the far left and me on the far right.

"Uncle Carlisle?" Alice squeaked from her spot beside me.

"Yes Allie?" He asked gently.

"Will you protect us from the people in the story?" She asked nervously.

"It was just a story Allie but yes, I'll protect you." He promised.

"Okay, thank you." She told him, a smile evident in her voice.

It was quiet and I rubbed Alice's back as I began to doze off.

"Aunt Esme?" Irina squeaked.

"Yes doll?" I asked tiredly.

"Are you sure it was just a story?" She asked.

"Positive." I promised.

"Okay good." She said in tone full of relief.

It was quiet again; I was just about asleep when another little voice woke me up. "Aunt Esme, Uncle Carlisle?" Alice asked.

"Yes Allie?" Carlisle answered for us.

"I have to go potty." She squeaked.

"I'll take Allie to the potty, you stay with Irina." Carlisle told me.

I nodded and helped Alice climb over me as Irina scooted closer to me. I was about asleep again when another little squeak woke me again.

"Aunt Esme?" Irina asked.

"Yes doll?" I asked gently.

"I love you." She told me.

"I love you too doll." I smiled as I wrapped my arm around the sleepy child.

There were no more disturbances, except the minimal noise Alice and Carlisle made as they got back in bed, and before I knew it, I was in a peaceful slumber with the beautiful sound of nature acting as my own personal lullaby.

The next morning it was time to pack up camp. Bella, Carmen, and I had the job of packing up all our food and clothes and loading it in the cars, the men had the job of breaking camp, and the kids had the job of cleaning up trash. It had been a wonderful five night expedition, it was always sad to leave but I knew we'd be camping on fall break anyway. Our family loved camping, hiking, anything to do with nature really.

Tomorrow marked the first day of a new school year. I was excited to have a whole new group of students at Our Lady of the Mountain Catholic School. I loved teaching first grade and I wouldn't trade jobs with anyone in the world although that's how Carlisle feels about being a pediatric surgeon.

Our entire family is made up of doctors and teachers. My brother Eleazar is a pediatric anesthesiologist, and his wife, my sister-in-law, Carmen, a fifth grade teacher at the school I teach at. Carlisle's brother, Edward, is a pediatrician and his wife, Bella, one of the other two first grade teachers at OLOM. Our family was something special, I knew that. We were all very close; we'd walk through fire for each other. We might give each other grief, but at the end of the day, our family loves each other dearly.

Once camp was all broken down, we piled in the two SUVs, mine and Carmen's, the ones we had brought with us, and began the trip back home to Sleepy Hallow, a small town about an hour from Denver. It was a two hour drive and I luckily was in the passenger seat with Carlisle driving. Poor Carmen was stuck in the middle row between Emmett and Garrett. Alice and Irina were in the back. Lucky for us, the kids fell asleep fifteen minutes in.

Once back to Carmen and Eleazar's, where the other cars were, we got everyone in the appropriate cars and then Carlisle and I began our trek back to our home.

Our house was large, five bedroom. We built it around the idea of a large family before we found out that was impractical. "It's good to be home." Carlisle smiled as he plopped on our bed.

"Very good." I agreed as I curled up next to him. "But unfortunately, I do have an errand to do today."

"Setting up your classroom? I'd love to help." He decided. He really was the best husband in the world.

"That would be lovely but I think we both need showers, we need to wash nature off of us." I told him.

"Well Mrs. Cullen, care to join me for a shower?" He smirked.

"I think that's a lovely idea." I smirked back.

After our shower, we made our way to the school. The classroom didn't need much preparation; I just needed to add the new names tags to the cubbies and desks. My room resembled the forest; it was like a tree house in the décor.

"What can I do while you make those?" Carlisle asked pointing at the name tags I was writing. "I'm afraid your six year olds couldn't read my handwriting if they tried."

I laughed; he surely did have the doctor's handwriting. "Can you clean the boards and straighten up the toys and books?" I asked.

"Of course my love." He agreed.

I finished writing the last name tag and began sitting the children alphabetically. I found it was easier to remember names that way especially in the first few weeks. Carlisle and I finally finished setting up my classroom and we left the school to head home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews on chapter one, it brightened my day. Enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter 2:

Esme POV

August 19, the first day of a new school year, the day I would return to work and finally meet my ten new rambunctious six year olds. Up until today that had solely been a list of names but today those names become people, ten very different and unique little children, and the group of children I'd spend the next nine months with. Today is one of my favorite days in the year, right behind holidays. These children are all my babies for 180 days. Today is actually a big day for Carlisle at work as well. Today he gets two new pediatric surgery fellows and a whole new swarm of interns while his old interns move up to residents. Today is just a big and exciting day.

I finally brought myself to get out of bed. I quickly woke my sleeping husband before I began getting ready for the day. I slipped on a purple dress and curled my hair before applying a bit of makeup and finally slipping on heels. Those heels probably would only be worn to walk outside of my classroom but they made me look good and first impressions were everything at a school like Our Lady of the Mountain Catholic. The parents were paying a lot of money for their children to attend and they wanted the best which included the best teachers and part of making them think you are the best for their children is dressing the part.

I sighed as one of the curls I had just worked to perfect fell out of place. "You look beautiful." Carlisle promised me as he pushed it behind my ear.

He was wearing his teal scrubs and looked dashing, as always. "Thank you my love." I told him.

"You seem stressed, you don't need to worry, you'll be fine just like you always are." He smiled.

"I sure hope so." I sighed.

"I've got to get going to work; I'll see you at lunch?" He asked.

That was one thing that Carlisle, Eleazar, and Edward all did, they all came to eat lunch with us at the school on their lunch break. The school was only five minutes from the hospital so it was an easy way for them to spend time with us and they claimed the cafeteria food at the school was better than the hospital food which considering the chefs that worked for the school, was very true.

"I'll see you at lunch." I agreed giving him one final peck.

Only fifteen minutes after Carlisle had left I found myself in my black Escalade driving to the school. The staff parking lot was just beginning to fill when I arrived and I took my spot right between Carmen and Bella's SUVs.

I got my bag from the trunk and placed my purse on my shoulder before walking inside. The entrance closest to the staff parking lot was the West entrance, furthest from the first grade hallway. The West hallway held the fourth and fifth grade classrooms, the North held the second and third grade class rooms, the South held the cafeteria, the gymnasium, the art room, the foreign language rooms, and the auditorium while the East held the kindergarten and first grade classrooms. As I entered the West hallway I noticed that Kate was sitting with one of the other teacher's children outside a room.

"Aunt Esme." She smiled.

"Morning Kate, are you excited for school?" I asked her.

"Very excited." She agreed as she got up to give me a hug.

"Fifth grade is a big deal; you're the big dog on campus now." I smiled.

"It's going to be so fun!" She exclaimed.

"I'm running late, I'll see you later doll." I told her.

"See you Aunt Esme." She smiled.

I continued my journey through the school finally ending up at my classroom. I unlocked the door, propped it open, and turned on the light.

"Honestly Emmett, school hasn't even begun yet and you're already in an immense amount of trouble!" I heard an irritated Bella say from the hallway.

I couldn't help but giggle wondering what my mischievous nephew had done before school hours to wind up in the hot seat.

"I'm sorry mom it's just he was asking for it." Emmett sighed.

"Just you wait until your father hears about this Emmett Dale; you know what he thinks about fighting." Bella sighed.

Who could Emmett have possibly been fighting before students even arrived?

"What's going on?" I asked as I leaned on the doorframe.

"Aunt Esme he was asking for it." Emmett relayed again.

I shook my head. "Who was asking for what?" I asked him.

"Tanner, he was asking to be socked." He informed me.

"Tanner as in the fifth grade Tanner?" I asked him thinking of the faculty kids.

"Yes, he was mean so I punched him." Emmett shrugged.

"And he got himself suspended for two days on his first day of school." Bella sighed. "What am I going to do with you Emmett?"

"Umm, not tell dad?" Emmett asked hopefully.

"Well unfortunately, I can't take off work and your father has the day off so it appears you're out of luck mister." Bella told her son. "Esme, is their anyway you could watch my students for a little bit this morning after I meet them all so I can talk to Edward before he takes Emmett home?"

"Of course, what's ten more right?" I asked her.

She smiled. "Well actually it's a whole lot more but thank you."

"You're more than welcome." I told her.

"You mister, you go sit in my room at my desk and if I hear a peep out of you your father won't seem so scary anymore." Bella warned.

"Okay." Emmett sighed as he turned to go in Bella's classroom.

"Well it seems you're in for an entertaining year." I joked with my sister-in-law.

She rolled her eyes. "You have no idea."

Bella and I made our way to the foyer for the East hallway and awaited the arrival of our classes.

The first student to arrive was blonde girl with pigtails and glasses wearing what all the girls were required to wear, the navy and red jumper.

"Hi sweetheart, what's your name?" I asked her gently.

She hesitantly looked up at her father who nodded with a reassuring smile at his little girl. "Hayley." She answered quietly.

"Hi Hayley, I'm Mrs. Cullen, your teacher." I told her. "Why don't you come and sit over here while we wait for the rest of the class to arrive?" I asked her nodding towards our sitting area in the foyer.

"Okay." She agreed.

I offered my hand to her which she took after dropping her father's, and lead her to one of the cushioned benches for my class. This was where they would wait to be picked up in the afternoon but we found that on the first day having all the students sit with each other on these seats was a good way for them to meet new friends and get comfortable with each other.

I didn't have much time to talk with Hayley before another one of my students arrived. Hayley and Clayton, a little Hispanic boy, my second student to arrive sat talking as I waited for another student to arrive. Soon enough I had eight of my students, four boys and four girls and we only awaited the arrival of the last two.

I began coming up with ways to tell them apart. Hayley had her glasses which made her stand out, Clayton was my only adorable Hispanic student, Bristol accented her uniform with a pink vest and pink fedora hat, Tucker was missing many of his teeth making a jack-o-lantern effect, Natalie was my only girl with brown hair and only with curly hair, Austin's ears stuck out a bit more than the other little boy with brown hair, Elliott, and Laurel had bangs and wore her hair in a high ponytail. As long as my next two students, Rosalie and Jasper, didn't fit into any of those categories I could easily remember their names.

A few minutes later, after every other class had returned to their rooms with all their students, the door finally opened revealing our final two classmates. Rosalie and Jasper were not brought into the building by a doting parent like most of the children and they did not look confident like those who weren't brought in by parents. The contrary was true really, they looked terrified out of their little minds and exhausted. There was a deep purple bruise on Jasper's left eye and I could have sworn there was make-up caked on both of the children's faces but I wasn't certain.

I carefully made my way to them and crouched down to their level. "You two must be Rosalie and Jasper." I greeted them with the warmest smile I could manage. "I'm Mrs. Cullen, your teacher."

"It's nice to meet you ma'am." Jasper whispered.

I smiled at him. "Well, we can go see the classroom now and put your backpacks down now, why don't you follow me and meet the rest of your new friends?"

The two stayed quiet but followed me nonetheless to the group of six year olds who were busy chatting away. I lead the ten little ones to the classroom and helped them find their cubbies and their desks. I told them they could play now and that we'd get started in half an hour but that some more friends would be joining us for a little bit. I knew Bella needed to get Emmett home and I had remembered seeing Edward enter the building in the midst of the chaos. I sent Bella a text as I supervised the kids playing.

Bristol and Natalie were playing in the play kitchen, Hayley and Laurel in the reading area as they flipped through books together, Clayton and Elliott built with legos, Tucker and Austin played with the hot wheels. As for my last two, Rosalie and Jasper, the twins, they sat at their desks side-by-side not really knowing what to do. I watched as Rosalie eventually lay her head down and Jasper sat beside her like he was ready to hurt anyone who came near the pair.

I heard a new set of tiny voices which took my eyes from the twins and to Bella who was shuffling her ten in my class. I told Bella's little one's that they could play with the rest of the children and watched as they went to the toys they liked most.

My attention went back to the twins, they seemed so terrified of everything around them and it made me sad. I didn't know why they were so afraid, I had seen first day of school jitters but never to this extent.

After Bella's class left I told my students to clean up and then meet on the round carpet. Once we all sat in a circle I decided to start a name game.

"Okay, I want everyone to go around in the circle, tell your name, favorite color, and favorite animal." I told them. "Who wants to go first?"

Eight little hands went up, all except Rosalie and Jasper, and I sighed. "Okay, Bristol, why don't you start?" I offered.

"Okay! I'm Bristol, my favorite color is pink and my favorite animal is a kitty!" She giggled.

I smiled at her. We went around the room, each of the students answering until only two remained. "Jasper, it's your turn honey." I told him.

"I'm Jasper, my favorite color is red and my favorite animal is a dragon." Jasper all but whispered.

That was creative, dragons. So far we hadn't made it outside of farm animals. "What about you Rosalie?" I asked her.

"My name is Rosalie, my favorite color is lavender and my favorite animal is a snow leopard." She said in a very quiet yet beautiful bell like voice.

Again, two creative answers, a non-primary color and an animal that wasn't a simple horse, pig, cat, or dog.

"Well I guess it's my turn" I told them "my name is Mrs. Cullen, my favorite color is purple and my favorite animal is a giraffe."

"A giraffe? Those are silly, why are they your favorite?" Clayton asked.

"I think because they are so silly looking." I smiled at him. "Now, how about we throw the ball and whoever catches it has to tell one of the facts that the person that threw the ball to them said earlier."

We played the name game for nearing an hour before everyone was finally out. Usually right now would be the time to do math but on the first day we mostly did names and played so I decided on recess before our lunch time.

We went outside and the children took off running to the playground equipment, all except Rosalie and Jasper who opted to go and sit under one of the trees on a bench. They both looked like they could use a good nap and I was sure that they'd really get some good use out of the nap that would follow the recess after lunch.

Bella and her class joined us about five minutes later and she took a seat beside me on the bench.

"How's your class?" She asked me.

"They're little angels." I smiled. "They all get along very well."

"That's how mine is and I think they get along with your students." She agreed. "Who are those two?" She asked nodding towards Rosalie and Jasper.

"Those are my twins, Rosalie and Jasper." I told her. "I'm not sure but something seems off about the pair." I told her.

"Off?" She asked.

"They just don't interact with the other children or really with me unless prompted to. They stick together and stay very quiet and they both seem like they haven't slept in days." I sighed.

"What are you thinking?" She asked me curiously.

"I'm not sure yet but I do want to get to the bottom of this and quickly." I told her.

We sat pondering together before we were joined by the third and final first grade class, the one Alice, Irina, and Garrett were in, the one Linda North taught. Alice, Garrett, and Irina ran up to us and began talking very quickly about their day and their class. Bella and I tried to keep up and kept nodding as they spoke.

"You three go play with your new friends, you'll see us after school today anyway at my house for the barbecue." I reminded them.

"Oh yeah!" Alice exclaimed before running off with their cousins.

Linda took a seat on Bella's other side and sighed. "That bad?" Bella asked.

"Worse." She disagreed. "Those three are the only well behaved ones in my entire class the rest are just so loud and hyper. Two of the boys almost got into a physical fight over the legos."

"Sounds about like Bella's class last year." I pointed out.

"Just be patient, find something you like about each of the children and it makes it easier to tolerate them." Bella advised.

"I'll do my best." She agreed.

We sat chatting about our class until it was time for lunch. I lined my ten children up and led them to the cafeteria. I got my food and went to sit at the teacher's table while I awaited my husband's arrival.

I watched as my students all sat together at one of the tables, Rosalie and Jasper sat with them but I could tell they were nervous. Carlisle arrived just as Bella was sitting down and chuckled at her. "I heard Emmett was a handful today."

"Don't remind me." She sighed.

"How's your day been my love?" He asked me.

"Wonderful, I love my class." I smiled.

Pretty soon the fifth grade joined us. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why they paired the first and the fifth grade to eat together but I did enjoy the fact that Carmen could eat with us that way. Eleazar arrived as Carmen was still trying to settle a dispute between some of her students about who got to sit where at one of the tables as we sat and watched amused.

She finally joined us and plopped in her chair. "Carmen how's your day…" my brother began before being cut off.

"I don't want to talk about it." She told him.

"It couldn't have been that horrible they are only ten." I told her.

"It was beyond horrible. They may be ten but they have the attitude of hormonal teenagers. That little dispute you witnessed made them seem perfect compared to their behavior in class. I swear this is payback for having four good years in a row." She sighed. We all laughed as she glared at us. "Anyway, what about you two, how are your classes?"

"Mine are all perfect little angels. They're quiet, all of them and opt out of playing with loud toys and just read to each other. It really is very sweet." Bella smiled.

"Maybe I should move down to first grade." Carmen decided. "What about you Esme? Are yours angelic?"

"They are, they all get along very well." I decided. "They even sat together at lunch instead of mixing with the other classes."

"Who's that little one, with her head down?" She asked looking at my class.

"That's Rosalie; she's one of my twins. Poor things have been exhausted all day, I know as soon as they hit the mats for nap time they'll be out like lights." I told her as I looked over to see Rosalie, again with her head down, and Jasper with a protective look on his face. I wondered what could possibly make him so protective of his twin.

"Poor darlings, are they ill?" Carmen asked.

"I don't think so, I think they're just exhausted." I told her. "But something does seem off so I'm going to keep my eyes on them until I figure out what."

"What do you mean something seems off?" My husband asked as he wiped the spaghetti sauce off his mouth.

"I'm not sure they just seem so distant and afraid all the time." I admitted. "It's like they're terrified to interact with people."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." He promised me as he pecked my cheek.

We sat and discussed the day more and then the plans for tonight's barbecue. At the end of lunch, I kissed Carlisle goodbye and went to get my class. I lead them back to the playground but stopped Rosalie and Jasper.

"Would you two like to go ahead and rest instead of recess?" I asked them.

They looked at me a little afraid. "Can we?" Jasper asked hopefully.

"Of course sweetheart, I'm going to have the other Mrs. Cullen watch your classmates and I'll take you back to the classroom to rest." I told him. "Wait here."

I found Bella who smiled at me. "You need me to watch the rest right?" She asked.

"If you don't mind." I told her.

"I'll bring them back at nap time." She decided.

I went back to Rosalie and Jasper and we walked back to the classroom together. I pulled two of the mats, pillows, and blankets from the corner and placed them near each other on the floor. Usually students go get stuffed animals from their cubbies but not Rosalie and Jasper; they just lay on the mats and closed their exhausted little eyes. I sighed, something was definitely not right here.

I sat at my desk as I awaited the arrival of the rest of my little ones. As promised, at nap time Bella returned the remaining eight of my children to me.

The rest of the day went by quickly and before I knew it, all my students had gone home and it was time to leave. I stopped at the grocery store on my way back and picked up the food for the barbecue before returning home, changing to my swimsuit and casual clothes, and setting up for the family.

I finished making sure everything was ready for the family and then rested until the door opening awoke me from my almost peaceful slumber on the couch.

"I'm sorry my love I didn't mean to wake you." Carlisle apologized.

"That alright I was just resting my eyes." I told him causing him to chuckle. "How was work?"

"It was great, I had nothing other than routine procedures though, appendectomies, endoscopies, and such." He told me. "How about the rest of your day?"

"Peaceful, all ten of the angels went to sleep during nap time and then we had story time and then they went home before I knew it." I told him.

"Did you get everything for the barbecue?" He asked.

"Yes, I started the meat marinating for you as well." I told him.

"I'm going to change into my swimsuit and a t-shirt and out of these scrubs." He told me.

"I'm going to go ahead and lay out in the sun." I informed him.

I made my way to the pool and stripped to just the black bikini I wore. I lay on the lounge chair with my sunglasses and allowed the sun to help me relax. Carlisle joined me after that, well, joined is not the right word. He ran to the pool and did a cannon ball splashing me with water. I didn't mind so much, it cooled my now hot skin.

Soon, my nieces and nephews little voices filled the air as they did cannon balls of their own right near their Uncle Carlisle. I chuckled, pay back sucks.

Carmen and Bella joined me in two of the other lounge chairs and discussed how the rest of their day went as our husbands got to grilling. Once the hamburgers, hot dogs, and ribs were done, Bella, Carmen, and I carried the condiments from the fridge to the table outside. Everyone sat at various tables and began munching on the delicious meal.

Around 9:00 PM, everyone headed home after helping us clean up and Carlisle and I were utterly exhausted so we made our way inside to fall into very peaceful slumbers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the reviews! You guys are AMAZING!**

Chapter 3

Esme POV

The first week of school passed very quickly and before I knew it I was sitting at my desk after school on Friday thinking of my class. I had to admit, I had favorites though I'd never show it. Rosalie and Jasper had to be my two favorite students solely because they needed to see more love and affection than the rest. They had opened up slightly and were very slowly becoming less reserved, at least around me. They truly worried me though, I was very fearful for whatever they feared.

The two seemed to come in with injuries every day always with new stories of how they had fallen or how they had gotten into fights, with each other. The first few stories seemed reasonable but now, I wasn't too sure, not at all.

"Well look at you Mrs. Cullen, working late, I bet your husband is feeling lonely." Carlisle's voice broke my train of thought.

"Carlisle, what are you doing here?" I asked as he came over to me and began rubbing my shoulders.

"My last surgery was elective and canceled at last minute so I decided to come and surprise my wife." He smiled. "What are you doing my love?"

"Just grading some addition worksheets." I laughed. "Care to join me?"

"I'd be honored." He smiled as he pulled a chair up by me and took a few of the worksheets. He knew by now that when grading these papers, you had to rework the problems neatly and show each step. I had learned that when children saw how a problem was supposed to be done they typically improved the next time they had a similar problem, that's why it took so long to grade. I had two 100s so far, Rosalie and Jasper proving my theory that they were bright and chose not to speak up in class.

"Mrs. Cullen?" A nervous, yet familiar voice asked gently.

I looked up from my paper and smiled at Rosalie and Jasper who stood in the doorway, hair damp from the rain that had begun just moments ago.

"Hey you two, what are you two still doing here?" I asked them.

"We think our dad is running late." Jasper told me as he got noticeably nervous as Carlisle looked up at the twins.

"This is Carlisle, my husband." I introduced knowing the formal title of Dr. Cullen would last all of two minutes, the time it would take Carlisle to tell them to call him Carlisle.

"Hi." Jasper greeted very quietly and nervously.

"Carlisle, this is Jasper and his twin sister Rosalie." I told him for the twins' sake knowing that Carlisle could more than likely tell which of my students they were but what I had told him about them.

"It's nice to meet you two." Carlisle greeted them with a warm smile.

"How about you two play with some of the toys and when Carlisle and I are finished grading these worksheets we can take you home?" I suggested.

"Okay." Jasper said nervously.

He and Rosalie went over to the only toys I had seen them play with the entire time I had known them, the play-dough. I noticed my husband studying them with a worried and concerned look on his face.

"I don't like this Esme." He admitted quietly.

"You think something is off too don't you?" I asked.

"Their behavior, their expressions, those bruises, they all worry me." He sighed.

"Maybe we can get them to open up a little in the car; we can get yours after we take them home." I suggested.

"Maybe so." He agreed.

We finished grading and then went to join the twins at the table where they played with the play-dough. "You two ready?" I asked them.

"Yes ma'am." Jasper agreed as he and Rosalie began cleaning up their mess.

After we finished helping them clean up their mess we showed them to my car and once I was certain they were buckled in, Carlisle began driving.

"Where do you two live?" I asked them.

"New Rock." Jasper answered quietly.

New Rock was a subdivision about half an hour from the school. I decided those two babies needed to eat before then, after all it was 5:30 and it gave us a chance to get to know them more.

"Do you two like Chinese food? Carlisle and I always eat it on Friday nights for dinner." I told them.

"We've never had it." Jasper answered nervously.

"Would you two care to join us for dinner? It is close to dinner time and I don't want you two to go hungry." I asked them.

Jasper and Rosalie hesitate and looked at each other but eventually answered. "Yes please."

"What do you two like to do?" Carlisle asked them.

"I like to read." Jasper all but whispered.

"I enjoy reading as well, what books do you like to read?" He asked.

"Magic Tree House." Jasper answered the slightest bit more confident.

He was very bright to be reading those already; usually those weren't in the picture until at least late second grade if not mid third grade.

"I enjoy those too." Carlisle smiled, happy to have Jasper open up even if it was just about books. "What about you Rosalie, what do you like to do?"

"I like to dance." She whispered barely audible to us.

"I bet you dance beautifully." I told her catching her blush in the corner of my eye and a tiny smile played out on her lips. It was the first time I had ever seen either of them smile.

We pulled up to the Chinese restaurant and got out of the car. I walked closely behind Rosalie and Jasper who followed Carlisle inside. We got a table for four and waited for the waitress to take our order.

"Do you two know what you would like?" Carlisle asked them.

They both simply shook their heads. "How about the honey chicken? It's very yummy." I suggested knowing they probably didn't know what anything was.

"Okay." Jasper agreed for both of them.

After ordering, Carlisle offered a smile to both of the tiny six year olds sitting across from us. "Why don't you tell me about yourselves?" Carlisle asked trying to make conversation.

Both of the little ones looked very confused so I decided to give them an example. "How about your favorite animals?" I offered.

"I like dragons." Jasper told him.

"I like snow leopards." Rosalie finished.

"Those are wonderful animal but I do have to say I like pandas the very best." Carlisle smiled.

"Why?" Jasper asked although he looked like he regretted it.

Carlisle smiled at him. "Well, in China, pandas are the symbol of peace and peacefulness is one of my favorite times."

"What about your favorite part of school?" I asked the pair.

"I like naptime." Rosalie decided.

Carlisle chuckled. "I wish we had naptime at the hospital."

"The hospital?" Jasper asked him, his voice still quiet but with a hint of curiosity.

"I work there, I'm a pediatric surgeon." He explained.

Jasper seemed fascinated by this but didn't elaborate as he sipped on his glass of milk. The waitress came with our food and gave each of us the appropriate dishes. Carlisle and I began eating as Rosalie and Jasper nervously poked around their plates before joining us.

"How do you like it?" I asked them.

"It's yummy." Rosalie answered quietly.

"I like the noodles." Jasper smiled.

That marked the first time I saw Jasper smile, now I had seen both of them smile and it was one of the most beautiful sights I had seen.

"The noodles are my favorite part too buddy." Carlisle agreed with a smile.

Jasper seemed to perk up at Carlisle calling him buddy a bit, like he was beginning to trust him. After we finished eating, we began walking back to the car. Jasper slipped on the slick sidewalk but was close enough that Carlisle grabbed his arm to steady him. Jasper cried a bit in pain and Carlisle instantly released him.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" I asked him as I turned around.

"I'm okay." He lied. I could tell he was lying so I knew Carlisle could too.

"Did I hurt you buddy?" Carlisle asked him gently.

"No it wasn't you." Jasper said but his eyes got wide like he didn't mean to say that.

It wasn't you? I know Carlisle caught that, that worried me. "Why don't you let Carlisle take a look buddy?" I suggested.

"It's okay Mrs. Cullen I promise." Jasper swore.

I didn't want to push him on the matter, I didn't want him to lose the little bit of trust he had in us so I let it go but I promised not to forget those key words. It wasn't you.

"It's getting late we should probably get you both home." I decided changing the subject.

We got Rosalie and Jasper into the car and began the drive to their neighborhood. We pulled into the subdivision and Jasper told us the sixth house on the left was theirs. I noticed there were no lights on and no cars in the driveway.

"Are your parents home?" I asked the twins.

"Our step-mom should be." Jasper told us. "She's probably already in bed."

"This early?" I asked them.

"She's been sick for awhile now, dad doesn't think she has much longer to live." Jasper answered matter-of-factly.

"I'm so sorry I didn't know." I apologized to the pair.

"Not many people do." Rosalie answered quietly.

"I'll see you two Monday." I told them as they got out of the car and walked up to the front door together. We waited until they were inside before we drove away but I could tell Carlisle and I really didn't want to leave them.

"They are very sweet children." Carlisle told me after a few minutes of silence.

"But you agree that something seems wrong don't you?" I asked.

"Yes, Jasper's reaction to me grabbing his arm put the icing on the cake." He agreed. "I didn't grab him that hard, I simply steadied him and he acted like I had broken his arm."

"What do you think about the whole situation?" I asked.

"I can't be sure." He told me.

"You don't have to be I just want to know what you think, your personal opinion." I told him.

"I think there is a lot more going on in that house than just having their step-mother ill." He sighed. "Just keep an eye out."

"I just hope we didn't make a mistake letting them go back into that house." I sighed.

I hoped we hadn't made a mistake but I felt the regretful feeling that we had.


	4. Chapter 4

**Honestly, I simply forgot to post this. I meant to a while back but just forgot! Anyway, I hope this very long chapter will earn your forgiveness! Pleas review! Please I beg you!**

Esme POV

The weekend passed and I must admit I was worried the entire time. Worried that when Monday came my two favorite students wouldn't be in class or if they were, they'd be all the more battered than before. When I got to school that morning I sat anxiously in my classroom waiting for all my students but especially Rosalie and Jasper but they never showed.

This happened again on Tuesday and a third time on Wednesday and I couldn't deny, I was beginning to get very worried. Usually when a student is sick or going to miss school for a few days, the office tells me ahead of time and tells me why but in this case, the office didn't even seem to notice the absence of my two favorite students.

At lunch on Wednesday I caught myself staring into the spots that Rosalie and Jasper had been sitting the previous week, worrying. Carlisle, whom had been enjoying conversation with Edward, Eleazar, Carmen, and Bella, sighed and wrapped an arm around me.

"Maybe they have that nasty bug that half of the kids in Sleepy Hallow have right now." He said knowing just what I was so worried about.

I shook my head. "Something seems really off to me, something seems very wrong."

"Have you discussed any of this with Principal Nicholson?" Carmen asked.

"I don't want to raise any red flags if it is just me worrying over nothing." I disagreed.

"If you're this worried I think I agree with Carmen on this one sis, go with your instincts." Eleazar sighed.

"If they're not in class tomorrow I will." I decided. I could only hope that tomorrow wouldn't be too late.

The next day I was pleasantly surprised to see Rosalie and Jasper enter my classroom and I couldn't hide my grin but it quickly faded as I saw the bruises all over them. Up until now, it had been an occasional black eye or a bruise on the forearm but now, their legs and arms were covered in black and blue and I could tell they were in a fair amount of pain. It was settled, I was not allowing them to return to that home tonight. During my free time, right after nap time while they would be in gym, I would march to Principal Nicholson's office and demand that she contact child protective services.

I managed to fake a smile as they both looked up at me but the smile was not returned, I wasn't exactly expecting it to be but I wasn't expecting for their near tear filled eyes to hold so much pain. Throughout the day I tried my best to make class fun for all the kids. We took a little extra time to play and went to recess early. After our first recess it was time for lunch. I quickly got my food and sat down at the teacher's table but made sure to keep a watchful eye on the twins. Currently, they stood in the very back of the lunch line.

Carmen, Bella, Edward, Eleazar, and Carlisle joined me and followed my eyes. "They're back." Carlisle's voice was full of relief.

"And battered." I told him. "This has gone too far, during their gym time I'm going to go to Principal Nicholson and tell her to get those babies out of that house."

He squinted as if trying to get a better look at the two before rubbing my back a little. "How bad?" Bella asked me.

"I'd say that the majority of their body is filled with bruises. They look like they're in pain and about to burst into tears at any minute." I sighed.

"You're doing the right thing by telling." My brother assured me.

"Thank you Eleazar, I like to think so." I smiled at him.

In the one moment I allowed my attention to turn towards the conversation I heard quite a few students laughing and looked up to figure out why. My eyes landed on a little blonde boy on the ground with macaroni all over him and the floor. I could tell he was crying even if it wasn't audible. I quickly got up from my seat and made my way to Jasper. Rosalie looked terrified as she stood by him as tears filled her eyes.

"Its okay sweetheart" I comforted Jasper "can you look at me?"

Jasper's tear filled eyes met mine but I noticed blood running from his nose dripping on his white polo. "I'm sorry Mrs. Cullen I didn't mean to." He cried.

"Its okay sweetheart, I know you didn't mean to." I told him. "Let's go get you cleaned up." I offered.

I looked over to my family who all sat watching curiously and cautiously and nodded at Carlisle telling him to come over. I wasn't too terribly sure how to stop a nose bleeding this badly.

"Mrs. Cullen is Jasper okay?" Rosalie's terrified voice squeaked.

"She'll be okay baby." I promised her. "Did you see what happened?"

"He just tripped." She said as her voice cracked on her tears.

"Everything is alright baby." I promised her as I helped Jasper onto his feet as more blood poured from his nose. He seemed unsteady and Carlisle noticed this as he approached us and nodded at me. "Jasper, sweetheart, would it be okay if Carlisle carried you?"

Jasper looked afraid but nodded. Carlisle gently lifted him in his arms. "Let's go get you cleaned up buddy." He offered.

Bella was walking towards us. "I'll watch your class." She promised.

"Thank you." I smiled. Little Rosalie looked terrified behind me and I sighed. "Rosalie, baby, would you like to come along and make sure that Jasper is okay?" I asked her. She nodded so I held my hand out to her which she hesitantly took.

Together, Carlisle and I got Rosalie and Jasper to the teacher's lounge where Carlisle sat Jasper down on the couch, washed his hands, and got some tissues. "Okay buddy I'm going to hold this on your nose and I just want you to tilt your head forward for me alright?" Jasper simply nodded so Carlisle gently began to contain the nosebleed.

I took a seat on the couch beside Jasper and rested a hand on his back. Rosalie still looked petrified so I held my hand out to her. "Come here sweetheart." I offered.

Rosalie gladly climbed up to my lap and I began rubbing her back with the hand that didn't rest on Jasper's. I noticed as Jasper began leaning into Carlisle before finally resting his head on Carlisle's chest. Carlisle simply used his free hand to brush Jasper's shaggy blonde hair back as he continued holding the tissue on his nose.

Ten minutes later, Jasper's nosebleed had finally ceased. "Let's get you changed into some spare clothes alright?" I offered him as I sat Rosalie down and opened the drawer that held extra clothes for the students just in case accidents like this happened.

Jasper looked nervously at the clothes I pulled out. "What's wrong buddy?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm okay." Jasper promised.

"Oh sweetheart, your clothes are covered in macaroni and cheese and blood, it's okay you can put these on." I offered.

Jasper began crying and Carlisle looked down at him sadly before gently rubbing his back. "It's okay Jasper." He promised him.

I made my way over to him and gently pulled his shirt off. I couldn't help the small gasp that left my mouth at just how badly beaten he was. There were bruises all over his tiny chest and stomach and it looked like marks from a belt crisscrossing his back.

"I'm sorry." Jasper squeaked as he began crying harder.

"It's okay sweetheart, you have nothing to be sorry for." I promised him. "Rosalie, baby, do you have bruises like Jasper's?" I asked her. She looked scared as she studied us but finally nodded. "Can I see sweetheart?" I asked.

She simply shrugged so I sat beside her and moved her long blonde hair from her back before unzipping her jumper and pulling her shirt up so I could see her back. The marks were practically identical to Jasper's. It angered me that someone had done this to their children, it made me so sad. If I were able to have children, they would be the most loved children in the world.

"Esme, why don't you go get Principal Nicholson?" Carlisle suggested.

I nodded and left quickly and went to the office. "I need to speak with Principal Nicholson immediately." I told the secretary.

"She's in a meeting, can it wait?" She asked.

"No, this is an emergency." I told her firmly.

"I'll go get her." She said when she realized how serious I was about this being an emergency.

"Esme, what's the emergency?" Principal Nicholson asked as she came to the main part of the office.

"Rosalie and Jasper Hale." I told her.

"The twins?" She asked. "What about them?"

"It'd be easier if you just saw for yourself." I told her.

"I have a meeting can this…" she began.

"No!" I snapped. I sighed. "I'm sorry Principal Nicholson but this cannot wait."

"Okay, take me to them." She suggested.

I lead her to the teachers' lounge and began explaining to some extent "I've noticed that the twins act slightly odd and they always seem to have new bruises and they're always exhausted. Today, Jasper tripped in the cafeteria and got a pretty bad nosebleed so Carlisle and I brought him here to clean him up a bit and what we found was, well, unnerving."

"You think abuse has taken place?" She asked.

"I'm almost certain that abuse has taken place." I told her.

"Alright, well, in that case I should contact social services." She began. "Let me see what you mean though so that I can call."

I gently pushed the door open and saw my husband trying to console both crying children. I quickly went next to him to help. "Jasper, Rosalie, it's going to be okay, everything's going to be okay." I promised them.

"Jasper, can you tell me how you got those bruises?" Principal Nicholson asked quietly.

Jasper began trembling a bit but as Carlisle rested his hand on his battered back he noticeably relaxed. "My dad, he gets mad a lot. He says it's because our step-mom is sick but he did it before she got sick. He hits us a lot with his belt and sometimes he…" Jasper trailed off.

Honestly I was shocked that he had revealed this much to us. "Sometimes he what?" Principal Nicholson asked gently.

"He touches Rosalie and me in places he shouldn't. I'm sorry, I know it's wrong but he won't stop no matter how much we beg him to." He cried.

"It's not your fault sweetheart." I assured him.

"Rosalie, is what Jasper says true?" Principal Nicholson asked her.

"I tell him to stop but he won't. I'm sorry I'm so sorry." She cried.

I gently lifted her to my arms and rubbed her back. "There is nothing to be sorry for baby, nothing at all." I reassured her.

"Rosalie, Jasper, I'm going to call a friend of mine who is going to come and help you both. He'll ask you lots of questions but as long as you answer them honestly he'll help you okay?" Principal Nicholson asked them.

"Okay." They whispered at the same time.

"I'll be back." Principal Nicholson told us.

Carlisle and I sat looking into each other's eyes for a few moments before we looked into their tear filled identical blue eyes. They held so much pain that a child should never feel. These children had gone through hell and back. These two had witnessed more horrors than most adults ever witnessed in their entire lives.

"Mrs. Cullen what's going to happen?" Rosalie asked me terrified.

"I don't know for sure baby, all I know is that a nice person is going to come and help you." I told her.

"Do we have to go back home?" Jasper asked nervously.

"Do you want to go back home?" I asked them.

"No." He answered simply.

"Then the person that comes to help you will try to make sure you don't have to go home." I told him.

"Carlisle?" Rosalie asked nervously.

"Yes princess?" He asked gently.

"Now that my daddy can't figure out can I tell you something?" She asked nervously.

"Of course princess, anything you want." Carlisle told her.

"My tummy hurts really bad." She told him.

"Can you show me where princess?" He asked.

She pointed right to her left ribcage. Of course she wouldn't know enough anatomy to call those her ribs. "Right here."

"Does it hurt when you breathe?" He asked her.

"Yes." She told him.

"We'll have to get some special pictures to find out." He told her.

I knew he meant x-rays and I knew he probably suspected a few broken ribs. We sat with the children through the whole process of answering the social worker's questions. He decided they needed to be seen at the hospital so Carlisle and I of course told him we were going with them and we'd have it no other way. Principal Nicholson told me she'd make sure my class was taken care of.

At the hospital, we helped get Rosalie and Jasper into the tiger covered hospital gowns and pants for the kids and got them admitted and got the bracelets on their tiny wrists. The social worker was willing to allow us to stay with Rosalie and Jasper seeing as if we left them they panicked and began crying. We comforted them.

During x-rays we had to step outside the room and the social worker took this opportunity to speak with us. "Mrs. Cullen, Dr. Cullen, I've been told you two are registered foster parents."

"We are." I agreed.

"We've never actually fostered a child before but we thought maybe one day we would." Carlisle added in.

"The twins are both very attached to you too and I'm afraid breaking that attachment would break the small amount of trust they've built up with adults." He continued.

I looked at Carlisle who reached over and squeezed my hand in support meaning I wasn't the only one a little too attached to these precious angels. "What will it take for us to take them home?" Carlisle asked him.

"Do you have enough room in your home for two six year olds?" He asked us.

"More than enough." I agreed.

"It won't take much then, an up to date home study and that's about it. I also do have to ask, in cases like these it is important for the home to be a stable one, is there any way you would consider adopting the twins?" He asked.

"We'd have to discuss it." I told him.

"For now let's just say we will foster them until they at least heal from the abuse and we'll go from there." Carlisle finished.

"But you aren't saying no?" The social worker asked with the slightest bit of hopefulness in his voice.

"No, we are definitely not saying no." Carlisle answered for us.

Our conversation was interrupted by Jasper in his wheelchair who was the first twin to be done with x-rays. He seemed almost relaxed to see that Carlisle and I were still there.

"Hey buddy, how you doing?" Carlisle asked him as he knelt in front of him.

"Okay, the x-rays didn't hurt." Jasper said gently but with a bit of pride in his voice.

"I bet you were very brave." I told him.

Once Rosalie was done with her x-rays, it was time for both of the kids to be checked out more thoroughly. This was the part Carlisle and I were not allowed back for, the part that only the doctor was allowed during. Carlisle and I anxiously sat waiting in the ER getting a few looks from his colleagues, looks of confusion that is. Jasper was the first one done so Carlisle and I went to him. He seemed a little shaken up and he surprised us both when he wrapped his arms around Carlisle and laid his head on his shoulder. He must have trusted Carlisle more than we had originally thought. Once Rosalie was done, Carlisle carried Jasper to her bed and I gently took a seat beside her and allowed her to climb into my lap. We watched as the social worker and the two doctors talked at one of the desks.

The verdict was that Rosalie had a few fractured ribs, Jasper had a broken arm that had healed wrong, Rosalie and Jasper had both been sexually abused, there were old fractures on both of the children that luckily had healed correctly, they were covered in bruises in all stages of healing, and both children both desperately needed to gain some weight, those were the main concerns of the doctors that examined them. He wanted to keep them for one night just in case and have them on fluids which meant we now sat in a hospital room with two beds and a cartoon on mute on the television. There was also the task of fixing Jasper's arm. He'd need for it to be re-broken and then re-set properly and placed in a cast. They would put him under for the procedure and when he woke up he'd be in a fair bit of pain. He was nervous, that much was obvious.

"Do I have to get my arm fixed?" Jasper asked us nervously with tears in his eyes.

"I'm afraid so buddy." Carlisle told him as he smoothed his hair.

"Is it going to hurt?" Jasper asked.

"You'll be asleep sweetheart." I promised.

"What about when I wake up? Will it be like before?" He asked nervously.

"No buddy, it won't be anything like before." Carlisle promised him.

"What about Rosie?" He asked.

"We'll be with her waiting for you to wake up." I promised.

"You'll protect her?" Jasper asked as he glanced at his sleeping sister.

"I promise to take care of her." Carlisle told him.

"Dr. Cullen, Mrs. Cullen, I've come to take Jasper back to the operating room." One of the nurses said.

"You're going to be alright sweetheart." I promised him as I kissed his forehead.

"We'll see you when you wake up buddy." Carlisle promised him.

With that, Jasper was wheeled out of the room leaving us with Rosalie. We sat down in the chairs near her bed and I gently pushed the long stray strands of blonde hair from her face as she slept. She looked like a beautiful porcelain doll. She was the most gorgeous child I'd ever seen and I couldn't believe a man would ever find it okay to hurt her so badly.

Bright blue eyes blinked open and met my brown eyes. "Mrs. Cullen?" She asked.

"Yes baby?" I asked gently as I played with her hair a bit.

"I'm thirsty." She admitted.

Carlisle got up and made his way to the counter that held a pitcher of water. He poured a glass and brought it back to her. I helped her sit up and she sipped on it.

"How are you feeling princess?" Carlisle asked her gently.

"Sore." She admitted. "Where's Jasper?"

"He's having his arm fixed." I told her. "He'll be back soon." I promised.

"Are you hungry princess?" Carlisle asked her. Her stomach growled the slightest bit at the mention of food and he chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."

A soft knock on the door had all our heads turn to see the visitor, or should I say visitors. Carmen and Eleazar stood in the door each holding a bag, Carmen's from a toy store, Eleazar's from Panera bread.

"We thought you would like some company." Carmen smiled.

Of course word would get back to her. Unfortunately, the staff at the school spread gossip like wildfire. It's not like they wouldn't have heard but I do wish I could have been the one to tell them.

"We brought food." Eleazar pointed out.

"Rosalie, this is my brother Eleazar and his wife Carmen." I introduced.

She tensed a little but forced a small. "Hi."

"Hospitals can get a little bit scary so I thought this little guy could help you." Carmen smiled as she pulled a stuffed snow leopard from the toy bag and slowly approached us.

"For me?" Rosalie asked quietly.

"Of course little one." Carmen smiled as she held the stuffed animal close enough to Rosalie that she could take it but stood far enough away to not scare Rosalie.

"Thank you." Rosalie smiled as she hugged the toy to her chest.

"You're very welcome little one." Carmen smiled.

Eleazar hesitantly approached us to stand by his wife and I could tell Rosalie was getting more nervous. "It's okay baby, they won't hurt you." I whispered to her.

She nodded and looked up at them. "Where's Jasper?" Carmen asked us.

"They put him under to fix his arm. It healed improperly." Carlisle informed them.

"Who put him under?" Eleazar asked.

"Dr. McDowell." Carlisle told him.

"He's in good hands then." Eleazar nodded.

"Eleazar is a doctor here like Carlisle" I began explaining to Rosalie "he's a pediatric anesthesiologist which means he helps kids go to sleep for surgery."

Rosalie nodded as she held the little snow leopard to her. "Thought of any names for the little guy yet?" Carmen asked gently.

"I think I want to call him Snowball." Rosalie told her gaining a bit of volume, almost to the level she was using with Carlisle and myself.

"I think that's a fine name for a snow leopard." Eleazar smiled.

Rosalie brushed her hair from her face for the billionth time and Carmen smiled. "Would you like me to braid your hair for you so it stays out of your face?" Rosalie nodded so Carmen made her way a bit closer before taking a seat on the other side of the bed. "Lean up for me okay little one?" She offered.

I helped Rosalie lean up and watched as Carmen began to put her hair into two French braids. I'd have to have her teach me how to do that soon. Once she finished I helped Rosalie lay back and Carmen gently lifted the covers for her. She was getting used to Carmen, possibly even trusting her and that made my happy. Jasper and Rosalie needed to get used to our family seeing as they would be around them a lot.

Rosalie seemed exhausted, which was to be expected. "How about you eat some dinner and then you can go to sleep?" I offered.

Rosalie nodded and Eleazar sat the bag of food down. He pulled out two containers and brought them to sit on the table by Rosalie. I helped her open them to reveal chicken noodle soup and macaroni and cheese. She began eating a little nervously but relaxed as Carlisle and I began eating our favorite sandwiches. After she was finished she lay down and closed her eyes. When she was asleep we began quietly discussing with Carmen and Eleazar our plans.

They were very supportive of us taking the twins in, more than supportive actually, they encouraged it. During our conversation, Jasper was wheeled back to the room sporting a new blue cast on his left arm. He woke up soon after and was very groggy. Tears welled up in his eyes and Carlisle gently placed a hand on his head. "Is it your arm buddy?" He asked.

Jasper shook his head. Before I knew what was happening, Eleazar had a bedpan under Jasper's chin and Jasper was sick. Perks of having an anesthesiologist for a brother meant he knew how kids reacted from anesthesia. Jasper began crying so I made my way over to him.

"Its okay baby, you're alright." I promised him.

With that he was asleep again. "He must be a light weight." Eleazar told us as he took the chart probably looking at the dose of anesthesia they had given him.

"We'll stay with you until he's awake." Carmen offered. "The kids are with Bella and Edward so we've got time."

"Thank you." I smiled at her.

"It took a lot of convincing for Bella and Edward to wait until tomorrow to come and visit but we thought it would be best not to overwhelm them." Eleazar added as he put the chart down.

The next time Jasper woke up he was hungry and thirsty so we gave him the macaroni and the chicken noodle soup. After that, Carmen gave him his little prize, a stuffed dragon that he decided to name Nathan. I was suddenly very glad I had told Carmen their favorite animals. Soon after, Jasper was sleeping again, which Eleazar told us was from the anesthesia but that he'd probably sleep through the night, so we bid our farewells to our family as we pulled out the couch bed in the hospital and went to sleep.

**AN: So I realized while writing this chapter that at Catholic school most teachers are sisters or fathers but it was too late to change everything so just pretend okay? For the sake of the story. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to my lovely new reviewer, I decided to give you all chapter 5 even though I didn't want to quite yet. I'm halfway through chapter 6 and struggling with finding things to write I like enough to keep so I hope you all enjoy this and also, ideas and suggestions are very welcome.**

Esme POV

After a butt load of papers, we had been granted the temporary custody of Rosalie and Jasper Hale, temporary with no intent to give up on them. I had been given the rest of this week and all of next week off, not even having to use vacation days, to care for the children. Carlisle's boss had been generous as well giving him the rest of this week and until Thursday next week off without any vacation or sick days. Edward and Bella had stopped by during lunch today which is when I learned that two of her students would be transferred to my class and the twins to hers. Principal Nicholson didn't want me to have my own foster children in my class but she also wanted them to be comfortable so seeing as they were going to get to know Bella she seemed like the best option. Bella and Edward had also brought each of the twins a blanket, lavender for Rosalie and red for Jasper, and a change of clothes, a light blue pocket t-shirt and dark jean capris for Rosalie and a light blue and white striped t-shirt and dark jeans for Jasper. They'd even gone as far as to bring light blue vans for Rosalie and light blue converse for Jasper. Bella was excellent at guessing sizes seeing as the clothes and shoes fit the kids perfectly and before long we were in my SUV taking the kids back to our home.

The kids had been thrilled when we told them they'd be coming with us. That conversation had gone wonderfully, a lot better than expected. The twins had made immense progress in the short time they'd been in the hospital and we knew that once they were in a more stable and normal scenery, they would soar in healing. Our family had been wonderful through the entire process; they had been more than supportive. Carmen and Bella had spent all night last night stocking two of our guest rooms with toys and making them more kid friendly.

There was a light drizzle of rain as we drove through Sleepy Hallow. Rosalie and Jasper were still pretty tired and both snoozing in their car seats we had purchased. We got home and they were still sleeping and Carlisle and I had no intent to wake them. I gently lifted Rosalie and Carlisle lifted Jasper, and we carried them inside. We didn't want them to wake up in an unfamiliar place with no one around so we laid them both on the couch. Carlisle offered to stay with them so I could get started on lunch.

The food the children had shown interest in was not exactly healthy choices but they both needed to put on weight so Carlisle and I had decided for now to give them what they like. For lunch today that meant chicken nuggets, French fries, and cut up fruit. The fruit they actually hadn't had in front of us but Carlisle would kill me if I didn't put something healthy on their plates. We were giving them whole milk to drink to try and increase their weights as well which luckily, the children loved.

Once all the food was done I made plates for all four of us and placed them on the table before I made my way to Carlisle and the children. "The food's ready." I told Carlisle.

"I hate to wake them." He sighed.

"If they sleep all day they won't sleep tonight." I reasoned.

He nodded and I made my way towards the sleeping angels on the couch. I gently brushed Rosalie's hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. "Time to wake up baby." I whispered.

Rosalie seemed to panic a little bit at first but relaxed as her eyes landed on me. "Is this your house?" She asked.

"Yes baby girl, I'll show you around later but for now you've got a plate of chicken nuggets calling your name in the kitchen." I smiled.

I watched as Jasper took Carlisle's hand and began walking to the kitchen with him."Okay let's go." Rosalie said sleepily.

I took her hand and lead her from the living room to the kitchen where Carlisle lifted her to one of the barstools, the one beside Jasper's. I placed plates in front of all four seats and then we sat down. I was very glad the children were eating, they desperately needed the calories. They seemed to enjoy having someone cook for them, something I'm sure they never had at their old home. After lunch I placed all the plates in the kitchen and it was finally time to take the kids on a tour of the house.

The first floor consisted of the foyer, the living room, family room, den, kitchen, dining room, breakfast room, sun room, the master suite, and the master bath. We took them up to the second floor and showed them Carlisle's study, the library, the guest room that would remain a guest room, the guest room that would be turned into their playroom, and then the final two guest rooms that would be turned into their rooms. The two we had chosen were side by side and had their own bathrooms where as the other two bedrooms shared a bathroom down the hallway.

For now, the bedrooms were set up for adults. The one for Rosalie had pastel blue walls, all white furniture and yellow accents in the pillows and on the bedspread. There were two chairs beside an end table and a dresser with a large mirror.

"We are going to let you two chose how you want your rooms, what colors but for now this is it." I told her.

"It's beautiful." She whispered totally in awe of the room in front of her.

"We've never had our own rooms and ours was not anywhere near this big." Jasper explained.

That explained why she found the elegant décor so beautiful, she had never seen anything like this before and it was almost a culture shock. We showed Rosalie the temporarily blue and yellow bathroom before placing her one duffle bag on the bed.

"Let's go see Jasper's bedroom and bathroom and then we can go ahead and head to the mall." I suggested.

Rosalie nodded and took my hand as Carlisle and Jasper lead the way out of Rosalie's room and next door to Jasper's. Jasper's room temporarily had beige walls with all dark brown wood furniture and green and dark grey accents on the bed and the chair that sat by a bookcase. The bathroom matched in grey and green and once we were done showing the children the rest of the house, finishing with the basement that held a "man cave" and a small home theater. Finally, the tour was complete and we were helping the children into my car for a much needed clothes shopping expedition.

The closest mall was the one in Denver so that meant a full hour of driving. Rosalie and Jasper were quiet in their seats, both watching outside as rain began to drizzle ever so lightly. They were probably still trying to process everything that had been going on and their way of comprehending was through thoughts, not questions because they didn't know that we would not only answer their questions, we would love to answer them.

Once we arrived at the mall, the rain had luckily subsided for now so getting the kids out of the car was easy. I noticed as we made our way through the mall that the children kept as close to us as possible and I realized just how afraid they must be to be around this many grown people that could harm them. I gave Rosalie's hand a light, supporting, squeeze as we began approaching the first store we would shop in.

Forty casual outfits, ten formal outfits, ten swimsuits, fourteen sets of pajamas, fourteen athletic outfits, ten hiking outfits, twenty pairs of shoes, two pairs of hiking boots, and two pairs of Chacos later, we were walking through the mall with two exhausted six year olds in tow.

We stopped at a Mexican restaurant for dinner and then finally made our way back to our home. It was nearing 8:30 by the time we pulled into the driveway and Rosalie and Jasper were both snoozing in the backseat. Carlisle lifted Jasper and I lifted Rosalie and we carried them to their bedrooms.

For the night, we settled on laying them both down in Rosalie's room seeing as the bed was a queen size bed and when they woke up we wanted them to realize they were safe and together. If they hadn't fallen asleep we would have put them in their own rooms but we were afraid that waking up in an unfamiliar place after falling asleep in the car would be too frightening.

Carlisle and I maneuvered them out of their clothes and into some of their new pajamas before tucking them into the big bed. I flipped on the night light by the door and turned the bathroom light one and cracking it a bit. We left the door to the bedroom open so that if they were afraid they could find us or call for us easily.

I kissed both of their little foreheads before leaving with Carlisle to head to our room. It was still too early for us to go to sleep so we both changed into some pajamas and laid in bed reading.

"Today was nice." Carlisle broke the silence.

"They're so sweet and I think we definitely did the right thing by agreeing to foster them." I smiled.

"I can't even imagine them being anywhere else. They've brought a light to you and I hope to me too, they've filled in that last piece of our lives that up until now was missing." He agreed.

"Carlisle, do you think they'll heal from their pasts?" I asked nervously.

"Well, I know that they can only get better from here, not worse. They'll have setbacks, they'll still hurt sometimes but they'll get better slowly but surely they'll become less like traumatized children and more like happy and healthy children." He assured me.

"I've been thinking." I began.

"Uh oh." He joked.

"Well, I was thinking, I know that they were both examined in the hospital multiple times but they need a regular pediatrician so maybe we could take them to see Dr. Gerandy. Edward is family and technically can't treat them but that's who his kids and Eleazar's kids see. I don't know, maybe it's a bad idea." I began rambling.

He chuckled. "I think that's a good idea actually. They need a primary care physician and maybe he can make some suggestions about helping them heal that we haven't thought about yet."

"We can call the office in the morning." I decided.

Carlisle had just opened his mouth to speak when he was cut off by a little shriek. We didn't even have to speak, all we had to do was share one glance before we were both running through the house and up the stairs to the room the twins were sleeping in.

Rosalie was thrashing and screaming as Jasper sat awake on the bed looking at his sister with horrified, tear filled eyes. I instantly went to Rosalie but Carlisle grabbed my arm before I could touch her.

"Don't wake her; it'll only scare her more if we intervene." He said quietly. "Get Jasper and put him in our bed with you, I'll help Rosalie and bring her if she does wake."

I nodded and gently lifted a terrified Jasper in my arms. He wrapped his arms around my neck and rested his head on my shoulder as I carried him to our room and placed him in the middle of our bed.

"Esme is Rosalie going to be okay?" He squeaked as more tears spilled from his eyes.

I pulled him close to me and cuddled him as I answered. "She's going to be just fine sweetheart; Carlisle's going to make sure she's alright. Why don't you just try and go back to sleep? I've got you and I'm not going to leave you." I promised.

Jasper nodded and rested his little head on my chest. I found myself humming gently to him, the only song I could think of, _Son of a Son of a Sailor_. Soon, Jasper's breathing evened out and I knew he was either asleep or very close to it. I wasn't uncomfortable so I just stayed in the same position, his head on my chest, his breathing soothing me.

The door to our room opened and Carlisle held a very shaken looking Rosalie. He was gently rubbing her back as he climbed into bed. She lay completely on top of him, thumb in her little mouth, head resting on his chest. He simply rubbed soothing circles on her back as he nodded to me silently telling me everything was alright now.

That's how we fell asleep on the first night as a family, all in the same bed, all comforting each other in one way or another.


	6. Chapter 6

So I don't think I'm supposed to put up author's notes but I thought you guys deserved an explanation about not getting updates. I had up to chapter twelve completed, I went to update about a week ago and the documents on my computer had no content. They were just blank documents. This means I'm more than a bit frustrated.

I'm first and foremost doing my best to attempt to figure out what is going on with word and try and find my documents because I loved what I had written so far. If all else fails, I'll rewrite the chapters, that's not a big deal. I'll probably haul out twenty or so more chapters before I post one though so be warned, this won't happen soon.

For further notice, I began mandatory two a day soccer practices last Monday so I have to be at school from 8:30-12:30 for morning practice and from 5:30-7:30 for evening practice. I literally get home from morning practice, take a nap, eat lunch, take another nap and possibly shower, then it's time for evening practice, I get home, shower, eat dinner, and go to bed. I'm just exhausted so I've had very little time for writing which means that weekends will be my best bet for hauling out chapters.

School starts a week from Wednesday which means I'll be beginning my senior year of high school. This means college applications are due, I need to get my ACT score up from a 27 to a 30, I'll have AP classes, on top of still having soccer practice, I'm just going to be exceptionally busy which again, means that weekends will be my only time to write.

Anyway, back to the point, I hope I can find my documents somewhere and if I can you'll be getting an update sometime this weekend, if I can't, you'll be getting an update next weekend but I promise at least three chapters if not more (so at least one Friday night, one Saturday afternoon, and one Sunday afternoon).

I love all my readers and hope you can be patient and understanding with me!


End file.
